Are We... What We Eat?

Whenever we talk about diet, there are numerous things thatcome to mind. There are mainly two meanings of the worddiet. They both relate to food. First one can be definedas food that we take into our body. For example, eating awell-balanced diet. Another one can be defined as losingweight.A balanced diet contains proper portions of five basic foodgroups. To ensure optimum health and a balanced diet, it isessential to have a proper portion of each group, each day.The amount of food needed gets smaller as we move up the"pyramid". Bread, rice, cereal and pasta are in the bottomgroup. 6 to 11 servings every day from this group areneeded.After that, on the pyramid is the vegetable group. Nearlyeveryone requires 3 to 5 servings from this group daily. Thevegetable group gives you vitamins and minerals such asvitamin A and C, as per required. After that, is the fruitgroup. We need about 2 to 4 servings of this group per day.Fruits give you vitamin C, fiber, carbohydrates and more.Next is the milk, yogurt and cheese group. People need 2 to3 servings of this group per day. This group gives youcalcium and protein. Drinking milk and eating cheese and/oryogurt is a great way to get your daily allowance.Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts is the lastgroup. We do not need much of this group everyday but thisgroup is very important. 2 to 3 servings per day arerequired.In addition to the food pyramid, it was discovered bydoctors and scientist that fats, sweets and oils are animportant ingredient of a healthy diet. This is mentionedalthough it is separate from the pyramid. The food weeat normally contains the required fats so we need notadd additional fatty or sweet food. This food can bedelicious but we always try to avoid an excess of thistype of fatty or sweet food.If you are referring to a weight-loss diet, you are talkingabout changing or restricting your diet somehow to reducecalories, fat or other to lose weight. No diet should beused without talking to your doctor first. There are manydiets on the market and medications to help people diet. Theproblem with dieting when not under a doctor~s care is thatyou may be loosing nutrients your body needs to stayhealthy. You may be trying to lose weight because you areoverweight or obese, but can be doing more harm byrestricting vitamins and minerals that your body needs.Remember, if you are in doubt as to what your body needs,please consult your doctor.Marcelle Ventura is the webmaster ofFINA Diet - Understanding Diet, Made Easy , a wonderful health resource.